The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 10, 1897, Page 20

20 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1897. AN EYE'WITNESS TELLS OF THE BATTLES BEFORE METZ. Having described in last Sund how the Third German Army under com- mand of the Crown Prince had sucees: fully commenced operations against | Marshal MacMahon’s army, we now turn | our attention to the still more important movements of the First and Second armies, commanded respectively by General von | Steinmetz and Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia. These twoarmies had separ- | ately crossed the Frenci frontier, and ! after defeating the enemy at Spidern and | in several minor engagements had forced | Napoleon, who at that time commanded the French army on the Rhine in person, to seek a connection with MacMsahon’s | army. This gencral had reireated toward | Chalons after his defeats at Weissenburg and Worth, and was closely pursued by | the Crown Prnce. Oa August 12, 187 the Ruine army bad arrived southwest of s%e fortress of Metz, and on that day Napoleon, who was suffering from ner- | vous prostration and who did not have much confidence in his own ability as a general, re his command abso- | ted rshal B.\zni'n“ ander- 1 that time the strength of the French army corps as- sembled under tbe immediate shelter of | the forts amounted to 201 battalions, 116 | squadrous and 516 field-guns. Bazaine, who durinz the first few days | of his command was much hampered the presence of the Emperor and his suite, at once commenced to make preparation for joining MacMahon, but he had hard started meve ssal columns when he was stopped (Aug 14) at Co- Jombey-Nonilly by an attack of part of the First German Army under General von Steinmetz. The events of th:s baitle, in | which Von Steinmetz was opposed to much superior French forces, will not be described in detail here. The French as | well as the Germans fought desperately from 8 A M. to 9:30 P M and both sides sustained great los When night broke | in they were so comnpleteiy exhausted that they were unable to dislodgs each other | from their respective yositions. The ad- vantage was slightly on the sile of the Germans, as was made evident by the fact | that the French army vacated its po early the n bu tead of moving eastward, #s originally intended, it mo toward Mars-la-Tours, closely followea by Von Steinmetz, and without making an attempt to renew the fighr. In this, as in the baitles of August 16 and 18 the army corns under Bazaine were commanded by Marshals Canrobert and Leteeuf and Generals 1'Admirault, Frossard and Bourbaki (guard corps), all | soldiers who had greatly distingnished | themselves in the Crimean and Italian and some of them in Algerian wars also, None of these gener. ad rto teen ned to his ¢ . each other on this day amounted to 138- | tages gained by his infantry, ordered & | surprise. Tue Germans had the advant- | age of a more effec ive artillery and of a | better army organizition and discipline, | ay's Cavr | iiferior German forces caused world-wide y before with such numbers. The final result | was a complete rout of the French, | which, by the way, was the outcome of all charges of cavalry against cavalry in this on the 14th and 16:h was vastly in favorof | with great energy. the French, was now rever-ed, and the Ger- man numbared 220,000 against 145,000 Frenchmen. King William, who bud ar- and their officers knew the French coun- | war. Toward evening the entire Fronch | rived with his suite the night before, had try and the roads much better than the ) French. front commenced to retreat 1a good order, | established hesdquarters at Gravelotte Besides, the French generals |leaving the field to the Germans. The | and acted as commander of the combined bad vot ured their cavalry advantageous- | total losses of killed and wounded in this | German armies. ly to reconnoiter the strength and posi- | tions of their adversaries and were conse- quently not aware what inferior forces they had to deal with in the battles of August 14 and 16, The great display of | valor and dash on the part of their troops | | could therefore be of little avail, and the | repeated atternpts of some of the French | officers to distinguish themselves by per- | sonal exploits did more harm than good. | The 15th of Augzust was passed with a | retrograde movement on Vionville-Mars- | la-Tours, where on August 16 Bazaine was | again attacked by Von Steinmets, which attack resuited in tne bloodiest battle of the war, The forces arraigned against 000 Frenchmen, with 476 guns, against 67,000 Germans, with 222 guns. The bat- tle lasted from early in the morning till Iate at night, ana ended in the retreat of Bazaine toward Metz, and in the aban- doning of any further attempt of the | Rhine army to come to the reiief of Mac. Mahon’s forces. Laie in the afternoon the commander of the First Army, Prince | Frederick Charles, arrived on the scene of | action with part of his staff after an en- forced riae of several hours, and by order of the Kingrelieved Von Steinmetz of the chief command. 1t seems that Von Stein- E had attacked the French on the 14th with insufficient forces on his own re- sponsibility. A detailed description of the battle of the I6th would require much space, and we il therelore mention only a few inciden The right wing of the French army was unable 1o gain any succeeses during the day, but the center and the left wing re- peatedly drove the Germans before them by mere force of numbers. At one time | the German center was forced to *‘concen- | trate backward” :o quickly that the | mcvement came near resuiting 1n | flight. At this moment Generai I'Ad. | mirault, wishing to follow np the advan- | charge of Lisentire cavalry—ten squad- | rons —acamst the retreating German forces. But this movement was espied by General von Voigts-Rhetz, who sent the | brigade of guard dragoons, which on that | day was attached to his corps, to meet the | French, and now followed the greatest | cavalry ficht of all times. The sbock | when the 8900 horses met in full career | was tremendous; the first five or six co'- umns of both sides were ridden down, and the others were immediately mix=d up in a wild melee, whicn ended in a hand-to- | vat. one battle amounted to 711 officers and | 15,079 men on the German and 879 offi- | cers, 16,128 men (incluiing the prisoners) 5 x } and one gun on the French side. ‘We come now to the third and largest of |the Ninth and Twelith corps and the | vere losses. the battles pefore Metz, which was fought | Angusc 18 between Gravelotte and St. Pri- By this time the Second German Army had joined the first, and the numer- defeated and their poor showing against | band encounter such as never happenea , ical superiority of the combatants, which REASONS WHY SOME PEOP NICKEL SAVED 15 A b ch&:EEAQNED Not long ago a young Oskland lady trundled up and down her gangway by came to the conclusion that life was by no means worth the Lving in company with | the man whom, in a moment of youthful | idiocy, she had promised to “'lcve, honor | and ovey'’ until one or the other of them | fell a victim to the common fate of | mortals, | To the divorce court, that Mecca of ail such troubled souls, she petook herself, and her case wouid have attracted no special attention from me had it not been that one of her allegations in ber applica- tion for a dissolution of the bonds which | galled her =o unbearably seemed smx~|‘ ingly original. | She averred amonz other things in her | tale of woe that her brutal husband had | “compelled’’ her to go to and from San | Francisco on the 5-cent ferry, thus humili- | ating the petitioner beyond endurance and causing her great mortification ana intense mental anguish.” Quoth I to myseif, when I read this wail or a suffering sister, *What kind of a place is this 5-cent ferry, anyway, and | what manner of peoule travel upon it | that their comypanionship should so affect | this poor victim of man’s parsimony?"* And so0 it came sbout that the first day that I had the time to spare I made in- quiries as to the location of this economi- cal transit arrangement and invested a nickel in a small red ticket which en- titiel me to go to Oakland on the creek route, thau being the correct appellation | of the line. I went cown to the dock expecting to be bumiliatea, mortified and mentally anguished, but none of these things hap- pened to me. 1 was simply ignored, that was all, by every one except the blue-uni- formed man with the gray goatee, who | 100k my ticket away from me and headed me toward the waiting boat. Passengers don’t count for much on the creek route, although they are indul. gently permitted toavail themselves of its low rates if they feel so inclined. Freight istheend and aim of 1ts existence, and | the way in which freight of all kinds is bundled o0 and off the poor old Garlen City at each end of ber trip issuapiy astonishing to the mind that Las never | given much thought to the traffic between the two'cities. Fruit, vegetablesand poul- try, all manner of merchandise, baggage, and household furniture of all grades and in all stages of decomposition are hourly | ably as lotus-eaters. .thc arch of th SR AS? verspiring blue-shirted men, who work like Kobolds twenty minutes out of each hour and res: the other forty as comfort- The waiting-room on the n Francisco side is a marvel of simplicity and—dis- comfort. Is consistsof one ortwo banches of plain deal placed in a remote corner of the dock in the angle of two buildings, with neither roof nor wall to screen the 5-cent passenger from the burning sun, the swirling winds or the drifting rains. | Quite often these benches, unfriendly asis | their aspect, are cccapied by some of the “weary Wiliies” of the water front, who, falsely asserting by their presence there that they are the proud possessors of a nickel and intend to spend the same for a trip across the bay, crumple themselves up into various urcounventional attitudes and slumber sweet!y until some of the wharfhands, losing faith in their pre- tences of wealth, drive them out into the unfeeling world again. To embark from this side of the bay I had literally to take my life in my bands, for I had to wind my way under the very noses of disapproving horses and between furniture vans, express and laundry wag- ons, and in fact almost all kinds of vehi- cles in present use, and behind me and beside me and in front of me men were running about like ants in a stirred-up anthill, pushing thunderous trucks and shouting ‘“‘Gangway, there!” untill was fain to flee to the upver deck for safety. There is a “ladies’ cabin,” of course, but as it is a narrow and contracted apart- ment on the lower deck, with windows set so high that they give no view of the beautiful bay outside, and one narrow door that is alwavs full of somebody or other who is placidly willing that his or her felow-passengers shall go without glimpee of sea or breath of air so that he or she gets all possible enjoyment out of the situation, tbe region above stairs seems far more popular. There is no freight up there, for one | thing, and for another it does not smell nor sound quite so much like a livery-sta- ble. But it there are no horses nor prison- ing walls, neither are there screening awnings nor shelters of any kind. The sun pours down and the winds sweep and the rains fall as they will upon the broad, bare, sloping deck; but there is sky above, whether it be 1515 ALMOST AS CHEAP | and, incidentally, made the acqusintance | tive size never enters into his calculs i The battle commenced early in the morning with an attack of the Seventh ; had succeeded in completely and Eighth corps of the First Army on the French left wing at St. Hubert and Guard Division of the First Army on the | right wing of the Krench at St. Privatand | Amanvillers. Marshal Bazaine scemed | to be particuiarly anxious to hold the rosi- | tion at St. Hubert, which be defended | Hisentire reserve was sent to the support of Marshal Lelwuf and General Frossard, who held St. Hu- bert with thé Fourth, Sixth and Guard corps of the French army, and at this point the Germans could not obtain the | victory until the Second Army Corps | came to their assistancein the evening. | | Tue German Guards and Twelfta Corps | lished a report of the number of hiskilled M- destroying | | the entire French righ. wing early in the | can b3 no doubt that he lost more than afternoon, but not without suffering se- The last stand was mude by Marshal Canrobert’s corps, the Third, at | St. Privat, which was stormed by the | Pruss:an Goards acting under direct or- | ders of the Kine. The finsl result of the battle was a great {in six days in three victory for the Germans, and Bazaine and his vanquihed army were obliged to seek shelter behind the forts of Metz during the night and to march into taat fortress, that isunder its walls, on the next day. | The Germans had los: 1832 cfficers and 89,000 men in kilied and wounded in these three battles. Bazaine has never pub- and wounded officers and men, but there tiie Germans. Bazaine’s forces had been thrown into Meiz in a more or less aemoralizad condi- tion, which is not at all surprising if we | consider that they had been defeated with- large battles. The French forces now assembled at Metz | European countries. y | ne added turning to me, “there is no | country in the world which can produce a amounted to 188,000 men, including the garrison of the fortress. We may men- tion Lere that Metz was only provided with suilicient previsions to keep 10,09(;: men three months, 2nd that Bazaine's, army was bue poorly provided with horses atter it had been thrown mu“'gue (o'ru'es; Under these circumstances King W illian could afford to order a purt of the First and Second Army, which had received fresh re-enforcements, to march tothe sup- port of the Crown Prince, who was closing 15 on MacMahon's armyv. Oae hundred and ninety thousand men, under com- mand of Prince Krederick Charles, were left at Metz with orders to prevent Ha- zaine from leaving that f_ar_u-essf The King himself proceedec. to join his son, who was to meet MacMahon ai Beaumont and Sedan, as will be described in next day’s CALL. : s‘:;]u Ayu;:un 17 General Philip S_hendvan had arrived at the scene of action with Bismarck, and was at King William’s headquarters at Gravelotte on the 18th and witnessed the great battle from b?' ginning toend. 1 had rejoined my regi- ment (dragoons), which was engaged in all the three battles before Metz on the Btu of August, and consequently pum;mmed in them. Though only a second lieuten- ant I was appointed adjutant to the regi- ment at noon of the 18th, as our adjutant | had been severely wounded, and the aid to our colonel, with many of my comrad_es, killed on that day. Latein the evening my colonel sent me with a message (o General von Breden and on my return from this errand I noticed Sheridan, wha was accompanied by Lieutenant Her Bismarck of the Guard Dragoons and tw orderlies, in front of a fiell canteen, talking to Archibald Forbes of the London Daily News, and some others, English war-correspondents. As I had previously been in America I rode up to the renowned American cavairy leader and took the liberty to introduce myself to him. In the general conversation which followed Sheridan spcke very highly of the German officers and men, declaring the German army to be the fin- est in the wo Id. Upon this Baron (now Count) Herbert Bismarck, who speaks Eng- lish Aluently, and for whom his father had procured leave to sccompany Sheridan that evening, remarked courteously that the Americans also had excellent soldiers. This was denied by Sheridan, who ex- plained that under existing ¢ rcumstances the United States had no necessity to bring her troops to such a high state of perfection as wus required in some of the “But I tell you,” better material (meaning men) for soldiers than the United States ,and we know how to tight when we have to!” WiLLiaM LoDTMANN. ALKIN blue or gray, and the wide expanse of thetions, an1 h» heaving bay ail about the straining crait, | and the rush of the free, invigorating air | that leaves a sait dampness on my face and takes the curl out of my hair, but sends the blood bounding through my veins and makes me truly feel the joy of | living. ‘On the way over I simp'y enjoyed the trip itself, and I decided that from a purely personal standpoint it was really worth while. On the journey back I intended to study | the passengers. Meanwhile, after we ar- | rived in port, I put in the time watching | the unloading and loading of the freight | of—or, to speak more truthfally, since he | is of an extremely bhaughty and reserved | disposition—I was introduced to the Owner of the Wharl on the Oakland | side. His name is Grover. I have a dark sus- picion that it was oncealso Cleveland, but | none of his many friends will admit that | at'the present time for obvious reasons. | He has owned the wharf and the entire creek route basiness of Alameda County for the past four years. Previous to that he was himself owned by a freight clerk | named Scott, who, removing to pastures new, founa it impossible to wean his pet | from his allegiance to the dock and his | self-imposed duties there. Grover is not handsome, for he is part dachband and part English terrier and is shaped a goud deal like a tomato worm; but in the eyes of his associates no prize- winner of a bench show could be more altogether lovely. His charm lies notin bis outward appearance, but in his faitn- ful heart, his utter fearlessness and his | unswerving devotion to his friends and his duty as he sees it. He stands by and gravely watches the unloading of the boat, and then trots aboard and sstisfies bimself that all is | clear before the San Francisco load goes | on. He personally conducts all suspi- cious-looking persons about the whari, and woe be unto them if they attempt to nefariously meddle with things that do | not concern them, As for dogs, no dog unaccompanied by an owner or guardian need ever attempt to et foot in his domain unless le is anxious for a “scrap” of the most excit- ing deseription. The question of compara- CuUrRy NICKEL COUNTS, ESPECIALLY 15~ © YOU HAVE SEVEN CHILDREN, | ears and eyes closed for repairs are mere | steamer and dock bands vearly for a col- | the air outside 100 bracing | urely promenade the lengit: and breadth | of it reminded me of a ramble in the wilds 5 nard or a ioy terrier with equal self-con- fidence. He is *‘chuck full of grit,” as his friends claim, and lame lees and chewed incidents in his tusy life. A collection is taken up among the lar and license for “the Boss,”” and as he “boards around” among them ali, and is | an honored guest at whatever table or | lunch pail he may choose to make his | appearance, his legs are growing shorter i and his body broader constantly. Under | these circumstances what he will look like in years to come is a matter of un- pleasing conjecture. Being possessed of a number of spare nickels and an unusual amcunt of spare time on this particular day, I made sev- eral trips across the bay and back, and devoted each of the forty minutes which the journey from dock to dock consumes to observing my fellow-passengers with | curious and critical eyes. There are not very many of them, but what they lack in numbers they make up in variety, since among them are repre- sented all grades of society, with the ex- ception of the ostentatious rich, and that | class of feminine adventurers who find their prey among the flirtaticnsly inclined passengers on more lnxurious and popular boats. Down in the men’s cabin two or three | “hobos’ are generally to be found. Why | they should care which side of the bay they are on seems a mystery, bu: they ev.dently do, and the drawing power of each side seems about the same. Once aboard they generally seek some secluded place and slumber peacefully, after the manner of their kind, from skore toshore. | The ladies’ cabin is generaily tenanted by elderly ladies, of thin blood, who find 2, and careful mothers whose inf.nts are too young to endure the rushing breeze, and besides are apt to need maternal ministrations of | divers kinds during the period of transit. | Upstairs, though, it is different. Tne deck may look comparatively deserted since it is very large, and, by reason of beinz diversified with mysterious little bouses and kiosks with an inhospitable No admittance” over their doorways, is lull of corners and hiding places. A leis- 5 A MEANS OF AVOIDING CREDIT- HECREEK ROUTE ISAFNANGIAL, will scurry after a St. Ber-of the Santa Cruz Mountains during the quail season, for 1 *flushed” human quail | at almost every step. Greatly to my surprise and their evi- dent discomfiture I discovered several ac- quaintances among these low-priced trav- elers. One of them was a former land- lady of mine, a person possessed of houses ralore, and perfectly well able to sit in the lap of luxury for the brief remainder of Ler life if she cares to. She was dressed in parple and fine iinen, but her nose was red and her eyes were rheumy by reason of the keen breeze | and her fluttering skirts were tucked care- fully about her respectei legs for fear | that they might come in contact with those of some person of lowlier estate. She explained to me e aborately, as if it were my riznt to question her motives, that she traveled this way, not for the | sake of the nickei—ob, dear me, of course not!-—but because she loved the bay ana the wind and the long rest which the trin gave her; and when I received these quite unnecessary excuses in apparent \ good faith, giving the same explanation of my presence there, she took me under her matronly wing at once and proceeded to tell me all she knew concerning the other | passengers, which was not much. The shabby litile man who sat where no other mortal in his senses would—in the very teeth of the w.nd, around in front of the pilot-house—was Mr. fo-and-so, who, being persecuted with bills, came this way to avoid his numerous creditors. That old msn over yonder, with the crafty eves | and the claw-like hands, was the rich Mr. Blank, who “could buy up half Qakiand if he wanted to and yet was fuch a miser that he woula aiways travel to and from the city on this boat 10 save the 5 cents on the fare.” I wanted to sugeest that perhaps he, 100, loved the bay and the wind and the loug rest which the trip gave him, bu: I refrained, for it is not we!l to run the risk of offending persons who have houses ga- lore and clear titles to seats in the lap of luxury. During my numerous voyages I discov- ered that the Garden City is popular with the owners of large families, and that it is exteasively patronized by the small store- | keepers of our sister city, who come to San Francisco for their goods, and also by those persons who prefer 1o do their mar- keting on this side of the bay. | i | [ AwF-ULLY HORRID CROWD, SAVED FINECENTS JUST T T also discovered that it is a favorite trysting-place for deluded young persons of eitber sex, who have reached that sjage of “‘mash’ in which ‘“‘the longest way round is the shortest way home.” | stumbled over two or three such couples in unexpected places, and was punished for my intrusion upon their soul-commun- ings by stony stares of surprised disap- proval. The captain, T found, takes the tickets, acts as general uiility man and officiates | as pilot—reminding me forcibly of the un- happy conductors of the old-time *‘bob- tails.” He is, however, a bluff and cheer- | ful man, courteous to his passengers, be they rich or poor, and excellently well liked by his crew and the many patrons of the line. Only one traveler did I find who owned up to the truth concerning the choice of | conveyance across the bay *‘like a little man,” and that was a woman. She wasa broad-faced Milesian ledy, of proportions which may be delicately described as ample, and she sat on the return trip to Oakland surrounded by baskets and bundles almost innumerable. *‘Divil a bit do I cire for the bay or the breeze, or anny fool thing like that,” said she, when I sat down beside her and opened a conversation along the lines which I had found to be popular with such other of my fellow-trippers as I had mustered up the courage to approach. ‘‘Sure a nickel is a nickel these times, and when a person can save two av 'em at a time she 'ud be asofthead not t>. | Wan av’em’il buy a bustin’ big cabbage, an' the other’ll buy a hustin’ big drink av | shtame beer, if you've got the sinse to | take a pail or a pitcuer along wid ye to put it in, instcad av your mout. This boat is a blessin’ 1o thim as ain’t roflin’ in money, mum, if you'!l be'ave me.” Bv the time t at I had svent the last of | my 5-cent pieces I had become convinced thatthecre-kroute hasat least four advan- tages over the elegant and popular broad- gaure line. In the first place, no shadow of suicide rests uj on it. Only two persons have everattempted to find rest from their woes over the side of the 5-cent hoat, and both of these were prevented from carry- ing out their intenticns. Moreover, al- | thouzh it has been recontly stated that ! the Fair-Crittenden murder was com- | mitted on this craftin her better days, such is not tke case. It was the Ei Capl-[ LE RIDE ON THE FIVECENT FERRY u00 0000, » i tan which was the scene of that tragedy, but the present ubiquitous captain of the Garden ‘City was in command of the El Capitan at the time. In the next place there 1s more elbow, room. On any day but Sundays, and dny* when there is some kind of a celebration on one side of the bay, there is always meore than ‘‘room enough to swing a cat’’ on the wide and sloping deck; in fact, there is generaily plenty of vacant space to swing the entire Johnson collection at once, did one’s tastes run that way, and were the collection available for such a purpose. . Thirdly, there are no innocent and un- trammeled cherubs playing wild games of tag and leap-frog, and falling over cuspi. dors and the adult passengers’ remon- strant corns and bunions. Juvenile hilar- ity and athletics are discouraged on this steamer, for the reason that the 1incline of the deck and the lowness of the rsils strike fear {0 the hearts of those in charge of traveling youtb. _Lastly, although there is no sweet mu- sic provided with which to while away the time of passage, there is also no peri- patetic individual mutely vleading for unwilling donations by clacking coins col- lected from more £enerous persons under your very nose. Taken altogether, the creek route is a very interesting one, and on a fair day an_extremely pleasant one, and if the Oakland lady before mentioned had suf- fered no other cruelty at the hands of her unkind husband than being obliged to go back and forth on the boat which my whilom landlady, together with other equally well-to-do and respectable people, rides on just for the sake of the air and the water and the enforced leisure, her case most ceriainly should have b thrown out of court. e Fror NCE MATHESON. T The blew of a bullet will ordinarily pa alyZe so many nerves and muscles of white man as to knock him down, even though no vital part be hit. 0 the other n-nd,uthe l:dxnn gives little heed to such wounds, and to kill hin reach tue brain, the n»'nnrt‘v:l:ll:\‘:u:p!illx:u!t e e S i) Japan has a practically inexhaustible supply of coal, but it is not lised because 1ts combustion produce: dense volumes of smoke that make i, disagreeable in factories and on sieamers,